Regaining Control of Employee Leave

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Regaining Control of Employee Leave
11.13.14
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HYPOTHETICAL ONE Nancy Numbers avoids an
Action Plan
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HYPOTHETICAL ONE

• Good Company has an Accounting Supervisor, Nancy
  Numbers, who has been with the firm for 11?
  months. Shortly after Nancy received a
  performance "action plan" to improve her
  performance, she went out on leave claiming
  stress and emotional distress. Good Company uses
  a third-party administrator for its short-term
  and long-term disability plans. Nancy received
  short-term disability for 90 days, but the
  insurance carrier denied her long-term disability
  application as not being supported by sufficient
  medical evidence. Nancy's doctor then returned
  her to work without any restrictions.

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HYPOTHETICAL ONE

• Within two days of Nancy's return to work, Good
  Company's human resources department scheduled a
  meeting with her to move forward with the action
  plan. Upon learning of the scheduled meeting,
  Nancy left work again claiming that she felt
  "faint and panicky" and needed to go to the
  hospital. This time, her doctor has certified
  that she is under his care and should be able to
  return to work in 10 days. The doctor has not
  provided a specific diagnosis to Good Company of
  her condition or why she is unable to return to
  work.

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HYPOTHETICAL ONE

• Rumors circulate that Nancy has been interviewing
  with other companies while she is away from the
  office. Senior management feels that she is
  gaming the system, and would prefer to just end
  her employment and move forward with termination
  and not deal with her anymore, given that she has
  done nothing to indicate that she will be
  receptive to improving her performance.

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HYPOTHETICAL TWO Sammy Shipper and the
Unexplained Seizures
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HYPOTHETICAL TWO

• Sammy Shipper works in the shipping and receiving
  department of Awesomely Big Company. Sammy is
  primarily responsible for the receiving
  department in the warehouse, but it is sometimes
  necessary for him to operate a fork
  liftparticularly when he works on the weekend,
  because no other certified fork lift operator
  works on the weekend. Sammy also routinely works
  in an area where fork lifts and other heavy
  machinery are used. Sammy starts experiencing
  seizures and his doctor takes him off of work.
  As indicated on the FMLA paperwork, part of the
  treatment for Sammy's condition is taking a
  narcotic drug "as needed." After exhausting his
  FMLA leave, Sammy's doctor allows him to return
  to work. The FMLA certification states that
  Sammy has no restrictions and does not mention
  anything about what caused Sammy's seizures or
  his continued narcotic use.

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HYPOTHETICAL TWO

• ABC is skeptical. First, ABC is worried that
  Sammy's potential for seizures poses a safety
  risk to himself and to the other workers in the
  warehouse if he works in there and operates a
  fork lift. ABC also is concerned that Sammy may
  still be taking the narcotic that would impact
  him during working hours. ABC does not have any
  other open position for which Sammy is qualified.
  It also has a policy against any employee being
  off work for more than six months for any reason,
  at which time any such employee is terminated.

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HYPOTHETICAL TWO

• ABC refuses to let Sammy return to the warehouse,
  but advises him that he will be given first
  priority for any jobs that open up, provided that
  he is qualified. Sammy's physician sends a
  follow-up note indicating that Sammy is able to
  work without restriction provided that he be
  allowed to take the rest of the day and one
  additional day off in the event that he has a
  seizure that requires him to take the narcotic.
  Reminding Sammy that he has no FMLA leave left,
  ABC declines to let Sammy come back to work.
  After six months, Sammy's employment is
  terminated pursuant to the Company policy.

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HYPOTHETICAL THREE Emily's lingering lumbago
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HYPOTHETICAL THREE

• Emily Efficient is the executive assistant for
  the chief administrative officer of Xylophones,
  Yehus and Zithers, Inc., an exotic musical
  instrument company. Emily has worked for XYZ for
  ten years and has been a model employee. In
  January, Emily requests and receives four weeks
  of FMLA leave to care for her widowed mother, who
  had complications related to her ongoing
  chemotherapy. XYZ accounts for FMLA leave on a
  "rolling 12-month" basis.

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HYPOTHETICAL THREE

• Luckily, Emily's mom recovers. Emily returns to
  work in time for the always-busy spring Zither
  season and in early March is thrilled to learn
  that she is one-month pregnant with her first
  child. In May, two months after her return to
  work, Emily develops pregnancy-related sciatica.
  Due to complications related to the sciatica, her
  doctor requires her to begin bed rest eight weeks
  before her due date. Emily's doctor does not
  certify her to return to work until four weeks
  after she gives birth. XYZ cannot wait for Emily
  to return and reluctantly grants the post-FMLA
  leave. Three days before her scheduled return,
  however, XYZ is surprised to learn that Emily is
  requesting two additional weeks to recover from
  her condition and has a set of work restrictions
  that will preclude her from sitting for
  uninterrupted periods longer than 30 minutes.

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HYPOTHETICAL THREE

• In early December, Emily is distressed to learn
  that her mother's cancer has returned and
  requests unpaid leave on an "as needed" basis to
  care for her mother following her difficult chemo
  treatments.